Fulcrum ConsultingWorks, Inc

CHALLENGE:Rebecca Morgan, President of Fulcrum ConsultingWorks, Inc., (http://www.fulcrumcwi.com), in Cleveland is a manufacturing strategist who helps mid- to large-manufacturing firms define and implement operations improvements. Having owned and operated her consulting firm for over 11 years, she was well-respected and successful. She had plenty of business and was in fact turning away work. The problem was, she was settling for business that landed at her doorstep, working projects that did not require or utilize her extraordinary skills. She needed a proactive plan for attracting the right business for her highest value. But first she had to discover what her highest value was.SITUATION:Morgan wanted to attract high-impact projects that would capitalize on her extraordinary vision and skill in achieving cost and time efficient process flow. She hoped to build her reputation for enabling manufacturers to meet and exceed customer requirements, while enhancing their profitability. She wanted to tackle the most difficult problems manufacturing and industry could present to her, and in doing so, draw more lucrative, long-term accounts into her client base.

THE BGC SOLUTION:Andrew J. Birol conducted extensive interviews with a cross-section of Fulcrum clients. Consistently the feedback showed that Morgan's best and highest use centered around her strategic thinking. Each client Birol talked to acknowledged Rebecca's talent for accomplishing the assignment at hand, but they overwhelmingly concluded that her greatest value had come from strategic insights on problems and issues in areas other than the specific task she'd been brought in to resolve. Her advice, Birol concluded, was gold.

Andy Birol next began determining what kind of projects would best utilize Morgan's best talents and highest, most profitable use. Through a series of consultations, exercises and actions, Morgan began to see a picture of what her ideal client looked like. Andy Birol ran a price structure analysis and helped her re-brand and restructure her expertise according to the highest value she offered to her market.

Morgan had been implementing tools (Lean Manufacturing, TOC, MRP, and others). Andy Birol refocused Morgan's thinking. He steered her toward defining, then implementing strategies, not simply applying tools. Morgan likens the mind switch to an analogy of a carpenter, whose highest value lies in his architectural vision, not in the actual hammer and nails in his bag.

"There was nothing wrong with what I was doing; it just didn't capture my best and highest use, nor did I sell what my clients really valued. For example, they may have hired me to implement MRP, but what they really valued was the strategies I advised during the MRP implementation." Today, instead of the tools being the focus itself, Morgan uses the tools in their most beneficial purpose -- as support for the primary focus -- the strategy.

CLIENT RESULTS:"Prior to working with Andy, I would not have said that defining strategy was part of what I did. I now describe my work as working with manufacturing executives to define and implement operations strategy. Andy helped me take control of the kind of work I do, and he forced me to take a good look at how to work most effectively with clients and best serve their needs. I now price and define my work in a much more effective way for both me and my clients. And because I understand which companies make the best clients for me, I have become more effective at delivering results they value the most."

A growing business is a changing business, Morgan believes. "You have to be willing to make hard decisions and take action if you're going to hire Andy Birol. If you are looking to tear your business down to its basic building blocks and rebuild it with your own best interest and your clients' in mind, go for it!"